Prediction of the Interface Temperature Rise in Tribochemical Polishing of CVD Diamond

Tribochemcial polishing is one of the most efficient methods for polishing CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) diamond film due to the use of catalytic metal. However the difficulty to control the interface temperature during polishing process often results in low material removal because of the unstable contact process. So this research investigates the contact process in the tribochemical polishing of CVD diamond film and proposes a dynamic contact model for predicting the actual contact area, the actual contact pressure, and the interface temperature in the polishing process. This model has been verified by characterizing surface metrology of the CVD diamond with Talysurf CLI2000 3D Surface Topography and measuring the polishing temperature. The theoretical and experimental results shows that the height distribution of asperities on diamond film surface in the polishing process is well evaluated by combining the height distribution of original and polished asperities. The modeled surface asperity height distribution of diamond film agrees with the actual surface metrology in polishing process. The actual contact pressure is very large due to the small actual contact area. The predicted interface temperature can reach the catalytic reaction temperature between diamond and polishing plate when the lowest rotation speed and load are 10 000 r/min and 50 N, respectively, and diamond material is significantly removed. The model may provide effective process theory for tribochemcial polishing.